Saturday, 7 December 2013

How To: Make A Pokeball Cake

Hello everyone!On Tuesday it was my boyfriend's birthday and I decided to make him a very special surprise. As you may have seen on my Instagram, I made him a Pokeball cake since he loves Pokemon, almost as much as I do!So first I gathered all the ingredients I would need to make one:- Eggs- Self Raising Flour- Margarine- Caster Sugar- Food Colouring (black, red)- Icing Sugar- Ready To Roll Icing- JamAdditional Extras:- Fondant Smoother- Cake HolderAs the silicone cake mould I used was so big, I had to double the recipe as I didn't want a really thin cake. Firstly, put 200g butter in a bowl and 200g caster sugar, and mix these together until light and fluffy. Next add 4 eggs and 200g flour, and then mix until it is all combined and smooth.

I filled up the cake tin up to about three quarters of the way, giving it room to rise. When the cake is ready (approx. 30 mins in oven), leave them on a wire rack to cool. While waiting for the cakes to cool, use this time to prepare the icing. As the ready to roll icing I bought was white, I needed to split the icing into parts and then knead in food colouring as we need red and black. You can use black icing in a tube for the black detail on the cake; however I did not have any to hand at the time. Split the icing into two larger parts for white and red icing, and one small part for black. It may take a while to turn the white icing to the colour you want, and it'll also get very messy! Make sure you have a clean surface to do this on. Once this has been done, wrap them in cling film and put them in the fridge to rest.

By now the cakes should have cooled, so get started on making the buttercream for the middle! I used raspberry jam on top, and then gently put the other cake on top. The next step is to sort the white icing out, making sure your surface is spotless, and don't forget about your hands. I found it started to stick to everything, my hands, the table, and the rolling pin, so use icing sugar to help if you need to.

So for the Pokeball cake, we need one half white and the other half red. Once you have rolled out the white icing, cut a straight line on one side so you have somewhat of a semi-circle. Gently lift the icing onto the cake, making sure the straight line is in the middle of the cake. I used a fondant smoother to help press down the icing and make it look smooth. Carefully cut off the excess, and then do exactly the same thing with the red icing. To do the white button in the middle, use some of the white icing to create one large circle, and one smaller one. Place them in the middle, using a little water if necessary to make sure they stick to the cake. Use black icing to make the black band around the cake, and trace around the circles too. For personalisation, I added their initial to the cake using the same black icing, then placed the cake in an airtight cake holder to keep it safe.